Watches NEWS
Recap: The Best Of Colours During Watches & Wonders 2024 and The Geneva Week
While colours have always been part of brands’ collections, they have long been used mostly for the dials – and sometimes, but not always, for the straps… We’ve seen trends for blue or green dials in recent years, as well as a continuous love for salmon-toned watches and even purple making a discreet appearance. But this year, not only we’ve seen dozens of brightly coloured watches, but there’s more than just dials. Colours were everywhere… Unexpected ones mostly, but also in all sorts of watches and combined with textures. Another trend is clearly about colour-matching these coloured dials with the straps, or even using colours for the cases. Here are some of the most appealing and striking coloured watches we’ve seen during Watches & Wonders 2024 and The Geneva Watch Week.Cartier Santos-Dumont Lacquered PeacockFirst presented in 2022, the Santos-Dumont collection with lacquered cases made quite an impression… Available back th
Collector's Corner - Chopard L.U.C 16/1860 and The Calibre 96
After a brief hiatus, we return to The Collector's Corner, with an entry that is as far removed from the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M?and the Explorer II Polar 16570?we last looked at, in both form and function. At Watches & Wonders 2022 (check out our full coverage here), Chopard presented not one, but three chiming watches to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the jeweller's haute horlogerie ambitions under the L.U.C line. We thought it would thus be relevant to take a closer look at the beginnings of L.U.C and, more importantly, the groundbreaking movement powering it, the superb calibre 96.01… and of course, the ultra-desirable and elegant watches that came equipped with it.The Calibre 96.01 was launched in 1996 as Chopard's first in-house, automatic movement, and was developed over three years with a clear goal: establish Chopard as a serious contender was so forward-looking that its derivative movements still continue to power Chopard's latest cr
Buying Guide - Best Accessible Mechanical Chronographs of 2022
Chronograph movements are found all over the spectrum of the industry, from affordable quartz plastic watches priced below 200 euros to the very top of the range, where the sky is the limit. Moving from quartz to mechanical chronograph certainly is quite a large step for a watch enthusiast with a limited budget. Indeed, there’s hardly anything interesting or really consistent below 1000 euros (with a few exceptions of course, like Baltic). If you’re willing to increase a bit that budget, however, you’ll be able to find properly cool watches – and that is mostly credited to the very existence of the Valjoux base movement… Here are 6 recently-launched, cool-looking mechanical chronographs that are fairly priced and have true watchmaking credentials too.?Alpina Alpiner 4 Chronograph (2022 Update)If Frederique Constant is specialised in accessible luxury watches with a rather classic, formal design, its sister company Alpina (both owned by Citizen Group) is al
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Memovox Timer - Hands-On, Price
Earlier this year at the digital edition of Watches & Wonders, Jaeger-LeCoultre presented two Master Control Memovox models. The one which interests us today is the limited edition Master Control Memovox Timer model, a classic Memovox alarm watch with a twist. Along with the traditional alarm function (typically JLC), the Memovox comes with a novel complication in the form of a timer indication. Housed in a new 40mm Master Control case and fitted with a re-engineered edition of calibre 956, the caseback is now open to reveal the new strike-works system. However, the one thing that hasn't changed is the signature school bell sound of the alarm. Let’s take a closer look…Brief background on alarmsMost people today are bombarded with beeps and vibrations coming from their smartphones, smartwatches and Fitbits. There's always something buzzing that needs to be dealt with; be it your wake-up tone, another company email or a prod to walk more steps to reach your daily fitness
Louis Moinet Metropolis - Hands-On Review (Specs & Price)
What makes the beauty of an object? Its design… Right, that was an easy answer. But if look closely, what is hidden behind the word “design”? Like in architecture, watchmaking uses shapes, proportions, perspectives, empty and?full parts, layers and steps, in order to create a three dimensional object. This is what Louis Moinet tends to do with their new watch, the?Metropolis. More contemporary, more sculptural, still with a?proprietary?movement of great quality but with a more aggressive price policy. The industry evolves and micro-brands, even the high-end ones, have to take the train on time. And that Metropolis is an interesting move.When you look at the Louis Moinet offerings, you immediately spot two important characteristics. First, their watches are bold, highly designed, very unique in terms of style and very strong. We all know that provocation and differentiation are salvation for micro-brands, yet, if they?want to develop, brands have to talk to wider audie
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